With how little news we seem to get on YL, I figured it would be fun to actually talk more about the game itself than how much we are starving for info. So, I think it might be fun to talk about our own ideas for world-specific characters Yooka Laylee could have used in each world, as opposed to the armies of "dressed up" single characters. List a world, and give the characters. You don't need names or anything, but a sentence or two describing the character would be great.

1. Tribalstack Tropics - Tiki Statues: Remember the sleeping statues you need to wake up with Sonar Shot? I'm pretty disappointed we didn't get actual characters based on those. Even just one character: maybe his dilemma is that the other statues think he is fat or something, so he is like the black sheep. - Python: I know we have Trowzer, but I would have liked to see a snake-character besides him in this world. I'm thinking like the snake in Mayahem Temple. - Gorilla/Monkey: Another classical jungle trope, we could have had a simian show up, maybe as a nod to Conga or -heck - even Donkey Kong. Maybe he's a business man - a gorilla in a suit would be cute to see - and he is trying to compete with Trowzer. Or even make him a window-salesman!

Your Tribalstack Tropics character ideas fit the world nicely. They could also have had a bug, like a scarab, or something to represent the tribespeople that isn't just cosmetic changes to the corplets. I mean, YL isn't only lackluster when it comes to characters to talk with, but the enemies are also really unimaginative (with maybe one or two exceptions) and repetitive. So basically anything would work.

In the casino, you could have rich moles with monocles and top hats, red racing cars, chips and dice jumping around, bags of money, a roulette ball that you need to bring back to work, egyptian statues... I'm making these up as I go, but tbh I think anything's better than "the same character thrice".

If I do the same for MMM, how about will o wisps, crocodiles, big fireflies, old garbage like boots and stuff, a worm sitting on a fishing hook and not coming down because he's scared of heights, a giant fish, crabs, ghosts, little rusty robots that fall apart when you hit them and reassemble later...

The ice level could use color more than any other one, so how about one or two castle supplies, like lighters or armor coming to life. Old rare would probably have placed a giant snowflake with eyes somewhere, too. I think they are very rarely doing that in YL (just attatching eyes to stuff), but I felt that always worked nicely. Maybe because of that one opponent? Also, maybe bats and a yeti in the caves?

Galleon Galaxy is mostly okay, but a few more aliens wouldn't have hurt. It's easy to go wild here. Little things in tiny saucers, goo monsters, something living in the fog. And robots, or junk pirates. Little guys with a lot of military insignias to show they're some kind of space major. Some kind of shapeshifter that disguises itself as an item and transforms when you get closer.

That's a great idea. Underwater characters would absolutely have improved GGG. Even just that narwhal on its own doing its rounds would have lived that place up by so much.

I think the icy village on the hilltop was also a bit lacking. It could have had yetis who complain about how ugly the other yetis in the cave are, even though they look exactly the same. One character model, two tribes. No need for mustaches. Or actually, one tribe could have mustaches and the other monobrows (using the same model just differently placed)

Oh my gosh I love that! It reminds me of the "Bigafoots" in Hailfire Peaks with their giant toes.

Moodymaze Marsh... I feel like we easily could have had a Mr. Vile nod here. Or maybe even a sickly-looking lizard character: I can imagine some fun dialogue between him and Yooka. Maybe a large firefly that is upset because the other fireflies say he is fat.

I feel like so many of these ideas are of the exact type of fun Rare - er, Playtonic - would have easily been able to come up with. Leads me to think that the game skimped out due to time restraints more than anything else. That, and I think they were too focused on their new "regular" characters e.g. Clara, the Knights of Hamalot, etc.

This also helped me realize another issue I had with the game: most of the pagies are awarded for little more than an obstacle course or tiny mini-game, whereas in Banjo it often felt like you were helping people, making a difference. And sometimes they had incredibly fun and creative ways to have you help them that added more of a puzzle element than a simple obstacle course could give you. Here's hoping Playtonic really steps up for the next game (which I sincerely hope gets made).

Yes, I really think Playtonic either didn't have the budget or the time to add more variety. Or at least that's what I hope. Sometimes I get the impression that they also didn't care about the characters that much, given the excessive use of (often negative) self-awareness-based humor. The few characters you meet aren't all that relatable. But time and/or budget certainly seem to have been a major problem here.

As is, the game has characters for one to at most two levels, but bloated the game to five. Which is totally understandable, as fans want many worlds. I don't have a solution how this could have been resolved better.

Perhaps if the game had gone for "worse" graphics, assets would have been easier/faster created, and we'd have more variety. To me, that would have been a win, but of course that also would likely have been a financial failure (because nobody buys "ugly" games). It's kinda ironic, because Banjo is a cult classic that people appreciate because of the details and love, even with its dated looks, and YL apparently went the other road, sacrificing variety and world building for appearance. It's understandable given that Playtonic is driven mostly by not-so-young people who already earned their share of glory, so creating a game that sells badly but might be known as a cult classic somewhere in the future is not that great economically speaking. But it's a downside to the game.

In other words, when we make up these characters, I'm not entirely sure whether Playtonic still is the same type of people they used to be back then. 't was a long time ago...

I totally get the "They may not be the same people we remember" part. There were a few too many places where the game was self-aware, the adults jokes were a bit excessive, and some elements seemed to be thrown in just to appease nostalgia driven people like you and me (those awful Quackfire Quizzes).

I'm of the opinion YL came out six months too early. While the game is certainly playable, there was/is something about it that seems like a game that hit 90%+ in finish and polish, and then just released as "good enough." I think Playtonic felt they couldn't delay the game again, and figured it was good enough.

Of course, under the scrutiny of major fans like us (and the droves of "critics" who clearly hate the genre), the game's 90% doesn't hold up so well. Nevertheless, I still loved the game. It is the closest I have felt to playing a new Banjo in years, which is exactly the reason I backed them.

I think they are still the same "Rare" we knew from back then, although I think they've definitely gotten older and enjoy bathroom jokes a bit more LOL. I think folks like us who regular this forum and leave feedback such as the kind of world specific characters we'd like to see is going to help them on the next game: it has been twenty years or so since they first made Banjo, I think they can be forgiven for missing a few things that made the games so popular when the heart and soul of Banjo is still mostly there.